Court records: Fort Carson soldier possessed hundreds of child porn images and videos

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- Court records obtained by 13 Investigates show investigators recovered hundreds of images and videos of child porn from a Fort Carson soldier's phone.

Earlier this month, Fountain Police arrested 26-year-old Josef Smith. At the time of his arrest, Smith was a staff sergeant out of Fort Carson with nearly seven years of experience in the military.

Smith currently faces two felony charges for possessing and distributing child sexual abuse material or child porn.

According to his arrest records, investigators first received a cyber tip regarding Smith's alleged criminal behavior back on Aug. 29.

Investigators were notified of a blog on Tumblr, a "microblogging" and social networking site. The account associated with the blog was connected to Smith's email address.

In the Tumblr blog, investigators found several images of child pornography. Multiple images were of children in sexual positions, often unclothed.

On Jan. 12, investigators executed a search warrant at Smith's home on Berry Farm Road in Fountain.

During the execution of the warrant, investigators asked Smith about the Tumblr blog. The Staff Sergeant said that "to his knowledge, he did not look at that intentionally but may have stumbled upon it."

When asked how he stumbled upon child porn, Smith said he didn’t know, he was just scrolling through different blogs. 

Later when investigators searched Smith’s cell phone, investigators found approximately 500 digital images and several videos containing child pornography of pubescent and pre-pubescent children. 

Some of the recovered videos included pre-pubescent children performing sex acts on adults. 

Smith is currently out of the El Paso County Jail after posting a $60,000 bond.